The Kagato Chronicles: Book 1: Inner Demons
by Acid Rayn
Summary: The early life of Kagato. OVA based.
1. Default Chapter

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi Muyo.  
  
Prologue  
  
He had stopped working for a second, just long enough to wipe the sweat from his forehead, when the voice called out to him. It cried like a child begging him to come to it. He looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, turned to the forest behind him, and took off towards it. The voice became louder as he got closer to the woods.  
  
He stopped suddenly when he realized what he was doing. He was running straight into the forest. He had been told many times to avoid it, even in the day.  
  
Tales of people disappearing or being killed had circulated on the small planet for years. Even if no one could prove anything, the risks were there, and it was stupid to enter the forest. Especially alone.  
  
But that voice. It sounded like a kid, and it was most definitely in trouble.  
  
"I know I'm going to regret this," he thought as he stepped into the trees. Sunlight became none existent as he walked farther, and soon he had nothing but the voice to draw him onward. He jumped when he heard something that strangely resembled a twig snap.  
"It's fine. Those are probably just stories that the elders tell to scare little kids anyway," he said to himself, though he didn't feel very reassured.  
  
Then, it was gone.  
  
Silence.  
  
On the verge of a panic, he turned and ran in the direction he came.  
  
But, this wasn't right. He didn't recognize anything this way.  
  
"Great, now I'm lost. This can't be happening."  
  
Turning around to find another path a tower of smoke caught his eye. Maybe it was a house. There had to be someone there who could help him. He ran towards it.  
  
Finally, he emerged from the trees. He stopped suddenly. That was his house. He noticed the ship hovering over it. What were the Jurians doing at his house? And where was his family? The ship hummed as it powered up and a cannon appeared on it. It fired once, and the small house exploded. My God. If I hadn't been in the forest... He waited until the ship disappeared from sight and walked cautiously towards the pile of debris. He moved it around, using every bit of his strength. There were no bodies. His parents were gone!  
  
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"Sir, there seems to be a person missing from the prisoners."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Kagato. Thirteen year old male. Do you think we should go after him?"  
  
"Are you serious? We have to get back."  
  
"But sir, we have orders to bring all residents of the house to the emperor."  
  
"Officer Migal, we can't afford to go back. We have a time limit to get back to Juria. Besides, He's just one little kid. What could he possibly do?"  
  
Author's Note: I know this chapter isn't good. I'm planning to turn this into a series, so in this was just a starting point. It does start pretty slow, but it will get better. 


	2. Chapter One

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Disclaimer: I'm not typing that again. See first chapter.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
"Um...Professor, is it supposed to be making that sound?"  
  
"What sound? Oh shit! How did that happen?"  
  
"I don't know. It was fine a second ago."  
  
"Great. Now I'll have to start over. Kagato, aren't you late for class or something?"  
  
"Fine. I can take a hint, Professor Washu. I'll just be going now."  
  
Kagato turned and quickly retreated from the lab, grateful for an excuse to get out of there. He had come to the Science Academy two years after his parents' deaths and never left. He had breezed through the exams and tests it had taken to get into the academy. Now, three years later, he was a part-time student and was working on becoming Professor Washu's assistant.  
  
She had always claimed to be the greatest scientific genius in the universe, and after spending all of five minutes in her sub-space laboratory, he believed her. He,  
  
being especially gifted himself, knew that if he had connections with people like the professor, he couldn't help but succeed. Yet, after spending this much time with her, he knew that she tended to get frustrated when an experiment or invention didn't work out. And a frustrated Washu was never a good thing. If something went wrong and he knew he couldn't fix it, he began looking for an escape rout.  
  
He headed towards his dorm room, since he had been kicked out of the lab, and class didn't start for another hour. He took a quick shower, ran a brush through his long sliver hair and placed his glasses in front of his chocolate brown eyes.  
  
He glanced t the clock on the nightstand. He still had half an hour before class so he left his room and headed to the cafeteria.  
  
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Washu looked up from the transparent laptop in front of her. This would be much easier with Kagato's help. He was very intelligent and had a pleasant enough manner, but something about him just didn't fit. She just didn't know what.  
  
Maybe I could pull up his records she thought to herself. She, being one of the top professor, had almost unlimited access to the school's records and what ever she couldn't get into, she could hack into. She typed in her password and had Kagato's file open in no time. Most of it was useless; test scores, class schedule, etc. Then she found something interesting. As far as his past went, there was no record of him before he joined the academy. Not so much as a birth certificate. Those idiots ill let anyone who can solve E=MC2 join the academy. I bet they don't even have half of the students' last names she thought, annoyed that someone who lived in a school could be that stupid. She pulled up the main sever for the galactic records and ran a search on the name Kagato and Hitare, a name she had found in the file. While it searched, she went over to the machine that had nearly exploded an hour ago and got to work.  
  
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Kagato returned to his dorm three hours later. He glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. He threw himself on his bed and attempted to catch up on some well-deserved sleep.  
  
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The screensaver clicked of and the laptop hummed to life when Washu pushed a button on the keyboard. "Found: Kagato- 1 record. Hitare- 3 records," the computer announced. She clicked the first record under Kagato and began reading.  
  
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The forest stretched endlessly before him as he ran towards the column of smoke that rose into the sky. Thorns ripped at his clothes. He was blinded by the lack of light and was only directed by the screaming voice that begged him to come to it. After running for what seemed to be an eternity, he was suddenly out of the trees and in front of his house. The explosion ripped through the area as his home was blown into oblivion. He ran to the debris and searched, but he couldn't find the bodies of his parents. Where were they? Why did they leave him?  
  
Kaagto bolted upright in bed. That was the explosion that had killed his parents. He knew that wasn't true somewhere in his soul, but he had convinced himself of that years ago.  
  
"I've got to get out of here," he said to himself as he pulled his cloths on. He left his dorm and made his way to the ship deck to wire a cruiser and fly for a while. There was no one around this late at night, so he didn't have to worry about running to a professor and having to explain himself. He was so lost in thought that he didn't see the person in front of him. They collided and both fell to the ground.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry," the black haired man said as they stood up.  
  
"No. My fault entirely," Kagato replied.  
  
"You're Kagato aren't you?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," Kagato said eager to be on his way, yet trying to be polite. "I'm afraid I don't know you're name."  
  
"I'm Migal," the man answered. "Well I'll just be going now. It was nice meeting you."  
  
"You too," Kagato said. "I'll see you around."  
  
He made his way towards the deck again before anyone else spoke to him.  
  
He automatically knew which cruiser he wanted. He got in and activated it.  
  
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Washu sullenly made her way to the cafeteria, lost in thought. She had finished her research on Kagato and was greatly disturbed by it.  
  
She had discovered that his full name was Kagato Hitare. His parents were space pirates who had decided to settle down on the planet B9-84. It was a small planet whose economy was made up mostly of agriculture and was so remote that they had thought that they would not be found. They had Kagato and everything was peaceful for the next thirteen years. Then, the Jurians had came and took his parents captive. They had been executed a week later for crimes against Juria.  
  
She wasn't sure how Kagato had escaped capture, for if they took his parents they would have done something with him. She had summarized that they had either not been able to find him, or that they didn't know about him at all, even though that didn't seem very likely.  
  
Washu was now pressed with one question. What would she do with this newfound information? She knew it was her responsibility to report this to the academy's supreme council, but Kagato was a valuable student and he didn't deserve to be banned from the academy. And that was exactly what would happen if this got around. He wasn't guilty of any crime, as far as she knew, and one can't help whom his parents were. He probably didn't even know his parents real names, much less what their past occupation was.  
  
This in mind she decided she wouldn't tell the supreme council. And she still always had the information and the documents to prove it in case he got any bright ideas about selling her out to Dr. Clay or one of the other professors that had been sniffing around her current projects.  
  
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Kagato was panicking. The cruiser had been fine a minute ago. He didn't really have time to figure out what was wrong with it though.  
  
In fact, all he had time to do was sit there and pray that he lived through this. The cruiser had been running great, then it was like someone was there directing it on where to go. He had no control. It pulled sharply to the left, then veered to the right. Kagato looked up to see the asteroid rushing towards him, and then closed his eyes and buried his head in his arms, determined that he was not going to watch himself die.  
  
Author's Note: Okay, I've gotten this story on track now. Don't send me a lot of reviews trying to correct me on anything that may sound strange to you because chances are that it will be explained in the next few chapters, but please do review and tell me what you think. 


	3. Chapter Two

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Disclaimer: See first chapter.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Kagato's eyes snapped open. What happened?Then he remembered.  
  
The cruiser. He lost control. It headed towards an asteroid and crashed.  
  
No.  
  
Wait.  
  
That wasn't right.  
  
He had seen the asteroid coming towards him, but try as he might, he couldn't remember actually crashing into it.  
  
I must have hit my head on something he summarized. He then realized that he was sitting up and he felt no pain. At least I'm not hurt. He looked around to discover that no rubble from the ship could be seen.  
  
Now he was beginning to worry. He finally looked up to survey he surroundings.  
  
He was in a small dark cave-like room. It, in some strange way, resembled a shrine, yet it had the confining feeling of a prison.  
  
He stood up and saw the writing on the walls. He walked over to the nearest one and put his hands on it. Because of the lack of light, he had to read the carved letters by feel.  
  
It told of Yanouku the demon, who a few centuries ago had attempted to control the most powerful dynasty in the universe, Juria, by possessing its emperor. He had failed when Tsunami banished him to this cave.  
  
"A warning to all who pass," he read aloud. "Yanouku the demon can only be released when his name is spoken. Okay, so if I don't say this guy's name, I should be alright…OH SHIT."  
  
He realized what he had done. This is so typical. I go out for a short joyride and end up summoning a demon that nearly destroyed Juria. Not to mention what it could do to me.  
  
He felt something crawl over his foot. Looking down, he saw the first snake.  
  
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Washu stumbled into the cafeteria, startling the few students that were there.  
  
"Has anyone seen Kagato," she asked frantically. She had been looking for over two hours, but there was still no sign of him.  
  
After getting a negative response from them, she left the cafeteria. She was heading to search the dorms again when she ran headfirst into something. She looked up to see the black haired man she had bumped into.  
  
"Oh, hi Migal," she said distractedly.  
  
"Hello, Professor. I seem to be the target of the day. I had a collision with Kagato earlier," he said in an amused tone.  
  
"You saw Kagato?!" Washu yelled.  
  
"Um…yes," Migal said hesitantly.  
  
When? Where? Which direction was he going in? Why didn't you tell me two hours ago?" Washu asked.  
  
Migal tried to answer them. "About four hours ago. The hallway in the men's dorm. Towards the landing deck. I didn't think it was a big deal. Why? Is it?"  
  
But when he looked up, she was gone.  
  
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Kagato watched in amazement as the snakes moved to some kind of throne that he hadn't noticed before. They molded together as the thin, acrid smoke rose over them, a biting, hissing, squirming mass becoming one solid form. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the smoke evaporated from the room to revel the single most terrifying thing he'd ever seen.  
  
Standing in front of him (well…kind of standing) was a massive creature that appeared to be half-human and half snake. It was totally covered in black scales. It's muscled chest and arms were that of a man, with long claws on his hands that were strong enough to scratch stone. The lower half of his body was the tail of a snake. Kagato finally got the courage to look at his face, and was appalled and intoxicated by what he saw. He had the face of a man as well, with a thin nose and lips that were curved into a menacing smile, reveling long, dagger-like fangs dripping with saliva. A hooded piece of skin and bone began at his fore head and went down to his hips and small red eyes with vertical pupils that spoke of the venom within him completed the picture. He was the perfect image of everything that Kagato feared.  
  
Kagato swallowed a scream and tried to hide in a corner. Too late. He had been seen.  
  
"Hello, Kagato," the creature said in his deep, grating voice.  
  
Now Kagato knew he was in trouble. He had crashed on an abandoned asteroid, lost the cruiser, and to make his day complete, Yanouku the demon was free.  
  
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Washu had discovered that one of the cruisers was missing. She knew Kagato had used it, but because no one had seen him leave, she had no way of knowing which way he went, so she couldn't follow him. She decided she would wait. She really had no choice. But he had to come back sometime. Or at least, she hoped so…  
  
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"W-what do you want?" Kagato asked, trying to hide his fear, and failing miserably.  
  
"What do I want? You're the one who summoned me. What do *you* want?" Yanouku replied. Kagato didn't reply. He was to busy trying to decide if he should run or lay down and play dead. Yakouku smiled. He had expected a challenge, but this would be all to easy. 


	4. Chapter Three

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Chapter Three  
  
"I'll make this simple for you, Kagato," Yanouku said. "You summoned me, so it is my job to reward you by giving the ultimate power in the universe, Tsunami. Do you understand?"  
  
Kagato nodded dumbly.  
  
"Good. So all you have to do is let me assimulate with you with you and together we can leave this place," Yanouku said, confident that he was going to succeed. This was the worst part of his curse. Normally, he could merge with anyone any time he wanted, but because of Tsunami banishing him here, he could only merge with one person once, and that was only if they were willing. The only reason she had done this was so that he wouldn't merge with the first person that stumbled onto his tomb and then simply jump from mind to mind until he was on the same power trip as before. He only had one shot at this, so he had to make it work.  
  
He had been watching Kagato for years, with the small bit of power he had left, had even saved him from death when his parents were captured, and just a few hours ago, when his cruiser was about to crash. He was perfect.  
  
Kagato was still terrified that he would be ripped apart at any time. At this point, he would have agreed to walk barefoot into hell just to be anywhere but here.  
  
Yanouku smiled as he felt kagato opening his mind to him. It began.  
  
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Washu stopped typing and stared at the screen of her transparent laptop. She had had these moments less often as time passed and she began to move on from losing her family. Yet the void was still there. She needed another child. There was no question, no doubt. She didn't think that she could simply get pregnant again. She would not put her baby or herself in a position where they could lose each other again. But there had to be a way…  
  
She stood up and began walking down the corridor. She stopped suddenly and turned to stand directly in front of the tank that held the Mass. No way. she thought. They board will laugh me out of the academy. But the longer Washu pondered the idea, the more it appealed to her.  
  
She could make this work. All she had to do was combine an egg from her on body and some Mass with it and boom. Instant baby. She ran back to her computer and began her research.  
  
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The assimulation was complete. Kagato looked around for Yanouku, but he was no where to be seen. It felt so good to have this much power flowing through his veins. He was all-powerful and knew it. It was you're typical disaster waiting to happen.  
  
Now all he had to do was figure out how to get out of here. He put a hand to the wall next to him and began walking along it. In less than thirty minutes he had circled the room twice without finding a door. He was still trapped in here.  
  
He slumped against the wall in defeat.  
  
You're going to give up this easily? The voice echoed in his mind and he instantly knew it wasn't his.  
  
"Who's there?" Kagato called out to the empty room.  
  
Who do you think?  
  
Yanouku? How did you get in my mind? Wait. Never mind that, just tell me how to get out of here.  
  
You still haven't figured it out? I'm going to have to walk you through everything aren't I? Oh well, just close you're eyes and think about the place you want to go. Picture it in you're mind.  
  
"How is that going to help?"  
  
Just do it.  
  
Kagato closed his eyes and imagined his dorm room. He tried to concentrate on it and will himself there. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting on the edge of his bed.  
  
"How did I do that?" he asked Yanouku.  
  
Now that we are one, you will have many new powers that you will have to learn to use. Teleporting is one of them.  
  
Kagato was about to ask another question when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze. God what had happened to him. He wasn't himself anymore. His eyes, once a rich chocolate brown, were now a cold golden yellow. His once short silver hair was now a duller gray and reached his shoulders. Yanouku was stunned at this transformation as well. He had never seen this happen before. Before either of them could speak, the door burst open and Washu stumbled in. She stopped short when she saw Kagato's knew look, but chose not to say anything about it.  
  
"You're not gonna believe want I just discovered. Come look at this," she said urgently just before she took off down the hall. Kagato followed obediently. 


	5. Chapter Four

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Chapter Four  
  
"This is great Washu." Kagato said, "uh.what is it?"  
  
"It's the formula I'm gonna use to create a child for myself," Washu said.  
  
"Um.why." Kagato asked hesitantly, "Can't you just do it the old fashioned way? I mean.I'm sure there's some guy in the academy that would more than happy to-"  
  
"KAGATO," Washu interrupted. "Been there. Done that," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Then she returned too normal. " I'm doing it this way so that my child will have the powers of the Masses, plus my intelligence. She'll never be helpless and she'll be as smart as me. Well. almost," She sighed at Kagato's puzzled expression. "I guess that's it. I'm busy so you can let yourself out, right?" She turned and went deeper into the lab without waiting for an answer.  
  
Kagato started to return to his dorm, but stopped when a voice sounded in his mind. Following Yanouku's silent command, he grabbed a disk from a nearby table and copied the formula on Washu's laptop onto it. When it finished, only a few seconds later, he snatched from the disk drive and ran from to lab before Washu realized she had forgotten her laptop.  
  
A month later, Washu's new daughter was ready to be created. She had gathered DNA from Kagato and her own egg cells and mixed them in a tank with the Mass. Kagato watched her carefully through the whole process.  
  
After stealing a few Mass from the lab, along with some spare egg cells, he was ready to duplicate the process. He had even gathered the DNA of Amiel, the current emperor of Juria, when he visited the academy and carelessly let a loose hair fall to the ground. He doubled the amount of his DNA that was used for Washu's daughter, making this child more his than hers.  
  
Kagato spent most of the month in the personal subspace lab he had Washu build for him. It was smaller than hers, less complex, but it suited his purposes.  
  
He stood before the tank, staring at the tiny unborn child for hours wondering if he was too heartless to love his child. Would she even be a child to him or would he end up treating her as some mindless experiment? He didn't know the answers to these questions, nor was he even sure that he wanted to. He would just to wait and see how much Yanuoku would allow him to feel.  
  
Since he had abandoned his studies (they no longer mattered), he had nothing to do but develop his daughter and his plan. He now knew that both Washu's his children were female and delighted in that fact. A woman's mind, at least in his opinion, was easier to control.  
  
Now his child was ready to be born. He had sped her aging process up enough to where she would grow to the age of twenty-one immediately after birth. He approached the control pannel and pressed a button, then stood back to avoid being hit by flying glass as the tank exploded. Five minutes later, a tall girl stood before him on shaky legs and stared at him blankly before hitting the floor.  
  
He slowly walked over to her, as one would approach a frightened but deadly animal, and gently grabbed her arm. He lifted her up until stood once again, leaning on him for support. He pulled her into his room and sat her on the bed before leaving to find some food and clothes for her.  
  
When he returned, he sat the tray of food on his desk and walked over to the girl, offering her the robes. She took them and smiled radiantly up at him.  
  
"Thank you, Father," she said before standing and walking to the adjoining bathroom in sure steady strides to get dressed. When she returned to the bedroom and was eating at the desk, Kagato returned to the lab. He smiled when he realized that in the ten minutes he had been gone, his child had gained ten years of intelligence. Everything was going according to plan. 


	6. Chapter Five

The Kagato Chronicles  
  
By: nyke  
  
Book One: Inner Demons  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Things were peaceful over the next few weeks. Kagato's child, or Dakori as he now called her, was developing perfectly, and Yanouku was so happy about how well things were going that he decided to leave Kagato alone for a while. In fact, he now spoke to him so rarely, that Kagato began to wonder if he was ever there at all. But sooner or later, the voice of the demon always returned, though usually in reference to Dakori's training.  
  
Kagato now spent every moment with Dakori. He spent most of the day teaching her. He taught her combat, science, and how to use her newfound powers. She pleased him with her abilities and eagerness to please him. While in the span of two weeks, her strength and intelligence were powerful enough to rival his own, she still had the emotional state of a child. He spent each night curled on his bed with her in relaxed slumber, holding her with nothing but fatherly affection.  
  
It would be wrong to say that they loved each other. Dakori knew Kagato as her protector and provider. He had given her life and was now the only person in her life. She idolized him as what she knew she should become.  
  
Kagato held affection for the girl, but not much else. In a way, he was envious her. Dakori was innocent and sweet and beautiful. She was everything he once was and could never be again. Yanouku saw Dakori as a tool. She was his key to destroying his enemies and bringing the empire of Jurai to its knees.  
  
A week after Dakori was born, Washu's child was ready to be brought to life as well. By this time, Dakori had developed the intelligence of Kagato and the emotional state of a full grown adult, though her physical aging process ceased at twenty-one. She had basically the same powers as him, give or take a few. She was amazingly beautiful as well, with a tall lean build, a large bust, slim curves, and endless legs. She had hip-length hair that was red, but so dark that you could only see the red in direct light. Her features were catlike and dominated by two large, sharp dark green eyes with vertical pupils and tiny fangs showed in her smile.  
  
Kagato was there for the birth of Washu's child. He was reluctant, since it was a violation of the academy's rules to conduct such an experiment without the board's consent, and some small part of him still respected those rules, even though he himself had already broken the same ones. Yet Yanouku had a strong control over him and had insisted that he help Washu. He claimed that it was vital to the plan that he be the first male in the child's life, so as to establish himself as a father figure.  
  
The day before, he entered Washu's lab and found her in the back of the lab. She was puzzling over some sort of space ship that was large, white, and frightening. As he stared at it, transfixed, he realized that it reminded him of a large cobra with its ribs spread, reared for attack. Yanouku was buzzing in his head with excitement. This remarkable ship would be theirs. This was turning out better than he could have hoped.  
  
"Why would you build something like this?" he asked, bringing her attention to him.  
  
"Well, Kagato," she smiled, "I was building it for you. I was going to surprise you with it, but you've caught me. So what do you think?"  
  
"It's perfect," he said distantly, as if in deep thought. "Thank you."  
  
"No problem," she replied, " After all, you've been so much help to me, so I wanted to."  
  
Kagato drifted off into the inner reaches of his mind as she droned on. With this new development, he could set the plan into motion tomorrow.  
  
-~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~-  
  
Kagato and Washu stood around a large tank in her lab. The birth wasn't actually a human birth; rather it was just increasing the child's vitals until it burst from the tank, much like a baby bird from an egg. The only difference between Dakori's and this child's birth was that Dakori was full- grown. This child would be born a baby.  
  
Washu generated her laptop and began typing rapidly. Soon the tank exploded, blowing glass and water everywhere. Washu walked over to the remains of the tank and picked up the screaming child. She smiled in relief and held her baby girl to her.  
  
Seeing that the procedure had been a success, Kagato crept out of the lab, giving the mother in child some time alone.  
  
Halfway between the lab and his dorm, a blinding pain shot through Kagato's head.  
  
"Wh-what's going on?" he cried as he collapsed against the wall, gripping his head.  
  
Nothing personal Kagato, but I don't think you can handle something this important. Yanouku's voice rang through his mind. I'm just going to take over for a while.  
  
"Take over? But you can't just-" Kagato was cut off in mid sentence as Yanouku's power gained the control over his mind and body. He stood up, and tried to put his hand to his head so he could massage his aching temples. His hand didn't move, but his feet did. Suddenly he was standing in front of his dorm.  
  
He slipped in and walked over to Dakori, who was sleeping on his bed and pulled her up by the throat, shocking her into consciousness. "We will be leaving soon," he said in a voice that was nothing like that of the man she called father. "Be ready my child."  
  
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A tall, dark man watched Kagato leave the dorm with a girl he didn't recognize. Instinct told him to prepare for the worst and his instinct was never wrong. They were headed towards Washu's lab. He crept back to his own dorm and pulled a uniform out of the closet.  
  
-~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~- -~-  
  
Washu sat a large purple egg in front of her baby, who had already gained the ability to sit up. It would continue like this until she hit the physical age of three, then her growth would slow to that of a normal human being.  
  
The egg cracked and a small paw popped out. Another leg popped out. Then the shell gave way and a small creature with the face of a cat and the body of a rabbit. It scampered over to the child and meowed curiously before leaping onto her lap. Washu smiled at the sight.  
  
She turned sharply at the sound of the door slamming. "Oh hi, Kagato. Can I help yo-"  
  
Her words were cut short as she was thrown against a nearby console.  
  
"What the hell?" she yelled, "Kagato, what's the meaning of this?!"  
  
"You're the genius," he said with a sneer, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "You figure it out." Dakori walked up beside him, and frowned. She wondered what he was doing, but it wasn't her place to question him.  
  
Washu stood and prepared to face him and was once again thrown back by an energy blast from Kagato. She stayed there this time.  
  
"It's all quite simple really," Kagato smirked, "I seek to be invincible, and with the power of Tsunami, I shall be. You are going to help me find it."  
  
"And if I refuse?" Washu asked calmly.  
  
Kagato frowned as if he hadn't considered this. He then turned and leveled a smirk at her child. "You won't. Of that, I am sure."  
  
Washu saw Dakori then. She was in awe that their coloring was so similar, even though Dakori's was many shades darker. She momentarily wondered if it was intentional or not. She figured that they looked alike for the same reasons that her child resembled Kagato.  
  
It was a bad time to get lost in her own thoughts, and she realized that when Kagato suddenly thrust a squirming ball of fur into her face. She backed up and saw that he was holding the cabbit by its hind leg and it was meowing loudly in protest.  
  
"What's this?" he sneered.  
  
That's when Washu became Professor Washu. "Well Kagato, that is a cabbit. It was made by a combining the Mass that we used for our children and several other minerals. They have the ability to morph into ships and have telepathic bonds with their owners. That one belongs to my child."  
  
"But why are there two of them?" he asked, pointing to the cabbit on a nearby table. The shattered light blue shell around it showed that it had recently hatched.  
  
"Well," she said, choosing her words carefully, "I thought Dakori might want one as well."  
  
She had known. And she hadn't said anything. He could lie with ease, but he couldn't stand to be lied to. Inside, Kagato screamed with rage. Outside, Yanouku smirked in amusement. "How long have you known?"  
  
"From the beginning. I can't believe that you would assume that I don't know where my own egg cells are. I also can't believe that you completed the experiment successfully before I did. Perhaps I don't give you enough credit."  
  
Kagato began to reply, but the lab door was thrown open once more.  
  
Washu smiled "Officer Migal, haven't seen that uniform in awhile have we? Now, are you gonna use that gun, or just stand there and pose with it?"  
  
His suspicions were confirmed. "Kagato Hitare, I am placing you under arrest on charges of theft, assault, and the threatening of an Academy professor. You have the right to-" before he could finish, he was knocked unconscious.  
  
While this was happening, Dakori had crept over to Washu's laptop and began typing. As she typed, Ryoko began to grow. Her physical age increased to about eighteen then stopped. Washu then turned and saw that her child was no longer a child. She shrieked in outrage and tried to leap at one of them. She didn't care who she hit, but she found that she couldn't hit anyone. Her feet were cemented to the floor by light green crystal that was slowly creeping up her leg.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL?" she screamed.  
  
Kagato smirked again. She was beginning to hate that smirk. "I'm sorry Professor, but it seems that you have out lived your usefulness."  
  
Washu watched helplessly as he transported the girls to Soja. He returned to grab a few pieces of research and equipment, including a small box that she had hidden in the depths of a sub-space pocket. As what appeared to be an afterthought, he grabbed Migal by the collar and was gone again. When he was satisfied that he had taken everything of use, he returned for her. She realized he was purposely taking his time. He had nothing more to fear of anyone at the academy.  
  
"What are you gonna do with my daughter?" she asked, her voice calm despite her fear for both of them.  
  
"Don't worry about her. She will be well taken care of."  
  
"By who? You? That's comforting," Washu replied in a biting tone.  
  
Kagato's smirk became a frown, then a glare. "You are in no position for sarcasm, Professor."  
  
He grabbed her hair and transported her to the ship. He was contemplating where to put her when he remembered the one way level. He had her taken down there and began working on the creatures to guard her. When she fell into unconsciousness, she would be guarded by two giant stone snakes. (What else?)  
  
Washu cursed herself for ever building a mirror level in the ship. She had no idea why she had done it. What purpose did it really serve? She guessed it was one of those things that had seemed like a cool idea at the time. She wished she had left a flaw in the program that would allow an escape, but sometimes she was betrayed by her own genius.  
  
As she pondered her position, an astral projection of Kagato appeared. The smirk was back. "Comfortable?"  
  
"Fuck you," Washu replied, as composed as ever.  
  
"Good. Since you are alright down here, I'll just return to the girls." Then he was gone again.  
  
That's when Washu finally lost it. "Damnit, Kagato! You can't just leave me here! Come back!"  
  
. "KAGATO!" she screamed as the crystal crept over her neck. She kept screaming until it covered her face. Then everything went black.  
  
Kagato returned to the bridge where he had left the girls. After Dakori had calmed Washu's child, the two of them had sat down to play with the two cabbits. Kagato kneeled beside them.  
  
He motioned to the fallen GP officer and smirked. "Pay attention ladies. It's time for your first lesson. I'm going to teach you how to kill."  
  
~Fin~  
  
Author's Note: I've finally finished book one. Book two should be out very soon. Please review. I'd love to hear your opinion. 


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